This blog is dedicated to informing readers about the Greening the Heartland Conference, held in St. Louis, from June 22-24, 2008. For registration info and schedules, see www.greeningtheheartland.org.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Sports bars in Downtown STL

A big reason for people visiting Downtown St. Louis during the summertime is the local baseball team, a little organization called the St. Louis Cardinals. During GTH, attendees won't be tempted to skip out on conference events in favor of a trip to the ballpark. On Sunday, the team finishes up a trip to Boston and after an off-day on Monday, they'll be in Detroit on Tuesday. If you'd care to spend a moment, or two, watching the ballgames on TV, you'll have a few options within walking distance of the convention's HQ.

The Dubliner: 1025 Washington, 314-421-4300. A large, Irish-themed restaurant and bar, with the TVs often turned to sports like soccer, hurling and rugby. Really nice menu and the bartenders are total pros.

Flannery's: 1324 Washington, 314-241-8885. One of the newer bars in the heart of the revamped Washington Avenue, Flannery's has an entire wall of TVs tuned into every sports channel, with a simply-designed space and a popular, streetside patio.

Jack Patrick's, 1000 Olive, 314-314-436-8879. This is pretty much a classic, Downtown-styled sports bar, with pool tables, beer specials and volume, volume, volume. A good-sized space that often features local sports talk stations broadcasting live.

Kitchen K, 1000 Washington, 314-241-9900: A bit more clubby than some of the others on our list, the K-Bar at Kitchen K has a couple of plasmas and some nice people-watching possibilities, through a long bank of windows. Right across the street for the America's Center.

Tigin, 333 Washington, 314-241-8666. We're catching a trend here, with our third place with some type of Irish tie. This one's got the Irish menu, for sure, along with the soccer and rubgy fixes on the TV, though we anticipate some Cardinals ball on the tube during GTH.